2 militants, trooper killed in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Two militants and a trooper were killed, while another trooper was wounded Monday in a gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The gunfight erupted at village Nussu Badergund, Qazigund of Anantnag district, about 75 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

An Indian army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia told Xinhua they have killed two militants in the stand-off.

"Two militants were killed this evening in a gunfight at Nussu Badergund, while as a soldier was martyred and another wounded fighting them," Kalia said.

According to Kalia the operation in the area was in progress.

"Initially militants ambushed an army convoy near Bounigam village, during which an Indian army trooper was wounded," a police official said. "The trooper was immediately removed to hospital in Srinagar."

However, army chased the militants, who took refuge inside a residential house and fired upon them, triggering a fierce gunfight.

Locals said they heard heavy gunfire and sound of blasts.

"The gunfight began after contingents of army and police cordoned off the locality especially the suspected house," Ghulam Hassan, a local told Xinhua. "The sound of gunfire and blasts reverberated in entire area."

Police said protests broke out in the village during the gunfight with locals clashing with government forces.

People assembling at gunfight sites in support of militants and attacking government forces with stones has evolved as a new phenomenon of resistance in the region.

Meanwhile, region's Police Chief, Shesh Paul Vaid said they have recovered two bodies of militants.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the psyche of majority of Kashmiris. Irate residents defying curfew and restrictions took to roads and clash with police.

A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. The gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently across the region. Enditem